May 5, 2011

Day #6 - Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams Book Tour

Okay are you sure you're comfy? Make sure you have a nice cup of tea or if you're lucky enough perhaps a cup of my favourite cup of Tim Horton's and be sure to read right to the end of this post so you catch all the bits about the great prizes up for grabs on this tour!

About the book I was delighted when Kerin invited me be part of her wonderful book Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams. She has included my Reluctant Prince in her wonderful book on using resin clay.

Her book is a wonderful resource for all those who have been curious about using this wonderful medium in their work.

Resin clay has amazing properties. It sets up quickly, I smooth it with water, drill it, sand it, add colour to it or paint it I also use it like you would use grout!

It's even super tool around the house!

Inspired Remnants Curious Dreams can open up your world to new ideas! Both the book and the materials she uses should be part of every multi-media artists studio. Easy to follow project instruction will inspire you!

Books and Workshop DealsIf you haven't already purchased the book or have wanted to take one of Kerin's terrific workshops she has them in her etsy shop.

It has a bit of a smell, kind of like stinky feet but not that unpleasant... LOL
It can be difficult to remove from your fingers though so I keep a scrubby and warm water handy in a little plastic bowl. I also make sure I clean any material from under my nails as soon as possible. Of course you can use gloves but I prefer to feel the clay when I sculpt.
I also find there is a certain point when it is very sticky, which is also a good time to use a touch of water, or just leave the clay for about ten minutes until the sticky stage passes. You can add it to a sculpture that already as been baked or even before it goes in the oven.

Sometimes it can droop a little, plan ahead! It's easy to work in stages or construct parts separately and put them together with apoxie sculpt when the difficult bits have cured. Follow my blog post during February and March of this year for my work in progress posts on my Dark Warrior Angel 'Elena' and see how I did this with her gorgeous boots!

I use Aves Apoxie Sculpt to set my armatures into their poses, create bases and props, and even sculpt with it!

How I use Apoxie in my work

Dryad Barbie was the result
of my first experiment
with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

﻿ Here's a sample of some of the dolls I make visit my etsy Art Doll shop to see more of my dolls, puppets and patterns and be sure and stop by my LittleBitWired shop to see some of the other things I do and some great sale items! discovered Apoxie Sculpt at the Creative Festival in Toronto one year. The next day I started playing with it and my adventure with Barbie began. With the help of the apoxie sculpt resin my Dryad was firmly fixed to her base.

Peep is an egg gourd with wire
and apoxie sculpt.
See him in my etsy shop.

Apoxie and gourds are wonderful things!

Setting the joints in place with apoxie to hold
the dolls pose.

I use apoxie to strengthen my armatures. It keeps the wires together and maintains the pose for dolls that need to stand on their own.

I use it to make the feet of my dolls too. The weight of the apoxie helps keep a figure standing without a base.

A simple brass tube can also be wired and fixed in place to insert a figure into a base with a post set into a base so the figure can be mounted on it through the brass tube.

It works wonderfully to add to a base or to create props like canes, tree stumps, rocks and cobblestones. With the addition of acrylic paints, glazes and little bits of nature stuck into it you can make your bases into realistic settings for your figures.

Apoxie Base detail for Reluctant Prince from
Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams
(the base not shown in the book, but is worth a look).

Charlie Chaplin was a one of a kind commission
featuring apoxie over a wood base, apoxie hands
and shoes.

I've also used it to embed things like mosaic and the apoxie can be tinted with acrylics or dyes while mixing or before applying your mosaic tiles. It can be stamped into and with powders or paints the textures can really pop!

Journal cover for Travelling Doll Project 2010

Apoxie covers this chair armature and creates a wonderful work of art!

Apoxie can be applied to anything to create wonderful boots and shoes. The boots for my Angel Warrior were built in stages, the heel was added to the sole and the boot uppers were built up into fabulous boots!

Elena my Angel Warrior was based on a book cover by Nalini Singh.
She uses apoxie in her armature her wings armature, sculpted upper body,
arms, handsand of course her fabulous boots. She's brand new in my
etsy shop today. More on the wonderful photography in tomorrow's post.

My Ent was also made with apoxie, head and hands were sculpted with it and pine cones were attached with apoxie.

Kerin has organized a whopping 108 prizes for this blog hopping book tour!

Just leave a comment on my blog post for an entry to win and at the end of the tour I'll be picking six lucky winners for one of the following prizes!*
When you leave your comment just say where you posted (facebook, twitter, your blog, etc.) Each post is worth one entry in my drawing!Prize drawing extended to May 26, 2011.(Please be sure your blog profile has an email address where I can contact you if you win. You don't have to post it here for security's sake, If in doubt try contacting me through my etsy page.)

Write your own review of the book! Any reader that writes a review ~ however short or long~ of Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams on amazon.com or amazon.ca or amazon.co.uk before July 31, 2011 and sends an email with the title “Inspired Remnants Review” to remnants.art@gmail.com will be entered in a drawing to win one of these prizes. Please note that your honest opinion is wanted on this review.

A) The art piece featured on the cover of the book, “Sacred Totem”B) Power Pack plus extra Fixit Sculpt clay from Aves Studio http://avesstudios.com/C) Frozen Charlotte Doll with digital tutorial “How To Crackle Charlottes” from Alicia Caudle of http://alteredbits.comD) Resin Clay Pendants online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.comE) Vintage Gentleman online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.comF) Choice of any one workshop being taught by Kerin and Charley at Art Is You retreat in Petaluma, CA. The registration fee and workshop cost are both waived. http://www.art-is-you.com/mysitecaddy/site3/generalinformation-westcoast.htmG) One copy each of Jen Cushman's book, Explore, Create, Resinate and Susan Lenart-Kazmer's book, Making Connections plus ICE Resin and a selection of bezels all from http://www.iceresin.com/Here are the rest of the tour stops be sure to stop by each day:

Great Great Great! My favorite was Dragon Girl, but Peep was a close second, as I am a gourd artist and my first experience with Apoxie Sculpt was using it on gourds! Buttons! love them, now I know what to do with that bit of Apoxie Sculpt that I have leftover from a big project that I just don't have a spot for....make a button instead of wasting it!! Great stop on the Book tour.

I have been following the tour and I love your creations. I visited your etsy store, I love the Father. I just started making clay art dolls and I can't wait to see what I am creating 15 years from now. Thanks for all the links, advice and tips!

Oh my goodness! I never thought of making my own buttons! I am so very glad I saw this:) Wow, you really can do anything this this stuff! I can see that I am going to have to keep a good supply stocked from now on! Thank you for sharing:)

Hi Nancy!What a *wonderful* tutorial on making buttons! Thank you for sharing! You're brilliant regarding the plastic wrap with the cutter! Great way to keep the tools clean! I'm so excited to meet you and become familiar with your work - I *love* it! I think we have a lot of common interests too!Kerin's online book tour has been such a great gift of bringing artists together!Oh! I've also "blogged" the event here:rosielane.blogspot.comCheers! Tlee :)

what a wonderful post, nancy. so nice to have met you on this tour -- and how fun it's been! your dolls are magnificent -- love them! and your buttons are fun too -- i will have to make some one of these days.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments. I enjoyed putting this post together. I love to share my adventures in doll making and new products. I hope you found it a great accompaniment to Kerin's inspirational and resourceful book.Good luck on the prize draws!

Excellent work! I love the dolls you created. They show such personality and detail. I haven't worked with Apoxie clay yet but plan on getting some soon. Not sure what my first project will be but the buttons are a great idea to use up any left over bits from a project. Keep up the great work, it is beautiful.

I LOVE your work! I have been thinking about creating a line of jewelry with apoxie - now I KNOW it is possible, after looking at your fab beads! Thanks so much for this wonderful blog, jammed with beautiful work!

I just learned about this book and this special clay. I'd never even heard of it before. I'm already blown away by all I've seen so far and these buttons are no exception. You make it look so EASY to make them. Thanks for allowing me to enter your contest.

Awesome! Your artwork is wonderful. Each doll is so very detailed, I love seeing that an artist has gone the extra mile to make a piece of art really stand out. I've been really wanting to try the epoxy clay. Really inspired after purchasing the book last month at B&N. Then the blog hop came and I've seen so many versatile projects and I REALLY want to get my hands on some. Thanks for sharing the wonderful tutorial and the tips for using it. That will come in handy if I ever get my hands on some of the clay. Hugs!

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Travelling Doll Project 2011

ABOUT ME

My interest in dolls as art started quite a few years ago and I now work in clay, paperclay, paper mache, cloth, and apoxie.
My dolls have become part of collections world-wide and are available for sale on etsy. Some bought under the name Little Bit Wired but all signed Nancy Perennec
I like to post works in progress and tutorials. Sharing my interest and experience with others through my blog or teaching is something I wish I could do full time, but alas....